The yupa inscriptions of King Mulavarman at Kutai
Seven stone pillars found near the Mahakam River in eastern Borneo bear Sanskrit verses in an early South Indian script, set up by Brahmins to commemorate the sacrifices and gifts of King Mulavarman. They are the oldest known inscriptions of Indonesia and the first evidence of an Indianized kingdom in the archipelago; undated, they are placed by their script between the second half of the 4th and the first half of the 5th century.
- Date
- between 350 and 450exact date unknown: an interval is given
- Place
- Muara Kaman on the lower Mahakam, Kutaiapproximate locationtoday: Muara Kaman, Kutai Kartanegara Regency, East Kalimantan, Indonesia · Southeast Asia and Oceania
- Participants
- Mulavarman
- Threads
- Southeast Asia and Oceania (1st–10th c.)
- Also known as
- Yupa inscriptions; Mulawarman inscriptions; Kutai Martadipura; Prasasti Yupa; Muara Kaman; Надписи Мулавармана; Кутай
The pillars imitate the yupa, the post to which the victim was tied in Vedic sacrifice. Their inscriptions, in Sanskrit verse (mostly in the anushtubh metre) and an early form of the Pallava script of southern India, give the king’s lineage: Mulavarman was the son of Ashvavarman, called ‘the founder of the dynasty’, and the grandson of Kundunga, whose name is not Sanskrit and is usually taken to be local. The texts record a sacrifice ‘with much gold’, a gift of twenty thousand cows to the Brahmins at a holy place called Vaprakeshvara, gifts of land and other donations; one inscription says that Mulavarman defeated other kings in battle and made them pay tribute. The kingdom’s own name is not given; it is known after the region, Kutai.
The inscriptions show that a ruler in eastern Borneo had adopted Indian royal titles, Brahmin ritual and Sanskrit poetry — evidence of close sea contacts with India. Their date rests on the script alone: English-language works often place them in the second half of the 4th century, George Coedès around 400, and Russian scholars such as A. O. Zakharov in the early or first half of the 5th century. The inscriptions were edited by J. Ph. Vogel in 1918; the pillars are kept in the National Museum of Indonesia in Jakarta.
Connections
Related events
- Campaigns of Samudragupta and the Allahabad pillar prashastibetween 330 and 353 – between 370 and 376 · South Asiathe spread of Vedic kingship: Samudragupta’s horse-sacrifice coins show a horse tied to a yupa post, and his eulogy praises his gifts of cows
Adjacent events in the thread
- Gold pendant copying a coin of Antoninus Pius at Óc Eobetween 152 and 600 · Southeast Asia and Oceania
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within a year of this event
Western and Central Europe
- End of Roman rule in Britain383–410
- Division of the Roman Empire17 January 395
- Crossing of the Rhine31 December 406
- Sack of Rome by the Visigoths24–27 August 410
- Ambrose, bishop of Milan7 December 374 – 4 April 397
+ 3 events
Eastern Europe
- Bishop Aetherius of Chersonesus at the Second Ecumenical Council381
- Vinitharius’ war with the Antes of Bozbetween 375 and 380
- The Huns conquer the Alans and the Greuthungic. 370 – 376
- Reign of Ermanaric, king of the Greuthungic. 350 – between 370 and 376
- Chernyakhov culturebetween 200 and 250 – between 400 and 430
+ 2 events
Balkans and Anatolia
- Edict of Thessalonica27 February 380
- Gothic War (376–382)376 – 3 October 382
- Battle of Adrianople9 August 378
- Basil the Great founds the Basileiasbetween 369 and 372
- Wulfila’s Gothic Biblebetween 348 and 383
+ 2 events
Middle East and Egypt
- Jerusalem Talmudbetween 360 and 450
- Destruction of the Serapeum of Alexandriabetween 391 and 392
- Theon of Alexandria observes the eclipses of 364between June and November 364
- Julian’s Persian expedition and the Peace of 3635 March 363 – July 363
- Siege of Amida359
+ 1 event
Africa
- Augustine’s Confessionsbetween 397 and 400
- Revolt of Gildo397 – July 398
- Vandal conquest of Roman AfricaMay 429 – 442
- Donatist schismbetween 311 and 312 – 411
- Ezana’s Nile campaign and the end of Kushbetween 340 and 360
+ 1 event
Central and Northern Asia
- Hunnic kings of Bactria: the Kidaritesbetween 360 and 370 – 467
- Lü Guang takes Kucha and carries off Kumārajīva384
- Le Zun cuts the first cave at Mogao366
- Shapur II’s war with the Chionitesc. 350 – 358
- The Kushano-Sasanian kingdom in Bactriabetween 230 and 262 – between 350 and 370
South Asia
- Reign of Chandragupta II Vikramadityabetween 375 and 381 – between 412 and 415
- Campaigns of Samudragupta and the Allahabad pillar prashastibetween 330 and 353 – between 370 and 376
- The Buddha’s tooth relic is brought to Sri Lankabetween 309 and 371
- Vijayapuri of the Ikshvakus: the monasteries of Nagarjunakondabetween 210 and 250 – between 300 and 350
East Asia
- Kofun period: the age of keyhole tombsbetween 250 and 300 – 538
- Battle of Fei Riverbetween 30 November 383 and 9 January 384
- Buddhism reaches Korea: the monk Sundo in Goguryeobetween July and August 372
- The Orchid Pavilion Gathering: Wang Xizhi writes the Lanting Preface22 April 353
North America
- Late Basketmaker II erac. 50 – c. 500
- Hopewell traditionbetween 200 and 100 BC – c. 500
Latin America
- Teotihuacan at its height: the largest city of the Americasc. 250 – c. 550
- Siyaj Kʼakʼ “arrives” at Tikal: Teotihuacan intervenes in the Maya lowlandsbetween 13 January and 15 January 378
- Nazca culture and the Nazca Linesbetween 200 and 100 BC – between 500 and 800
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Yūpa
- Wikipedia (English): Mulavarman
- Wikipedia (English): Kutai
- Wikipedia (Russian): Мулаварман
- Wikipedia (id): Prasasti Yupa
- Vogel J. Ph. The Yūpa Inscriptions of King Mūlavarman, from Koetei (East Borneo) // Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië. — 1918. — Deel 74. — P. 167–232.
- Coedès G. The Indianized States of Southeast Asia / Ed. W. F. Vella; transl. S. B. Cowing. — Honolulu: East-West Center Press, 1968. — P. 52.
- Захаров А. О. Политическая история и политическая организация раннесредневековой Индонезии (V — начало X в.). — М.: ИВ РАН; Институт стран Востока, 2012.
- Wikidata: Q12506388